Parents campaign to save primary school’s headteacher

PARENTS of pupils at St Mary’s Primary School in Broughton Gifford have launched a petition to save the school’s headteacher from redundancy.

It has been announced that the primary school’s headteacher, Pauline Orchard, is to leave at the end of August – she will be replaced by the current headteacher of St George’s Primary School in Semington and Seend Primary School, Candida Hutchinson.

The restructure by the White Horse Federation – the multi-academy trust that manages eight of Melksham’s schools – has raised concern with St Mary’s parents about having one headteacher shared between three schools.

And parents are demanding that St Mary’s has “dedicated management”, which they say is “essential” to the wellbeing of the school. 

“We are concerned that it is not possible for one person to meet the leadership needs of three separate schools,” say parents.

“The principal already looks after primary schools in Semington and Seend, and if they are to take on St Mary’s too, the children at Semington and Seend will be receiving far less attention to their schools as a result. This decision is affecting hundreds of pupils and parents.”

In correspondence with one concerned parent, the White Horse Federation has cited “funding challenges” and “declining pupil numbers” at St Mary’s, as the reasons for the leadership restructure.

However, parents are not backing down.

“They did this without consulting parents,” one parent told Melksham News, “it seems to be a cost-saving exercise.”

A spokesperson for The White Horse Federation said, “It is a sad reality that schools across the UK are facing significant funding challenges. At St Mary’s, this has been the case for a number of years, with the school receiving ongoing funding support from The White Horse Federation.

“However, this has been further perpetuated by declining pupil numbers due to low birth rates; a trend we expect to see continuing over the next five years based on publicly available data. To put this into context, Reception class intake for September 2021 is 50% down on capacity. 

“Decisions such as this are never taken lightly but we are determined to keep the school open and so, following an extensive review and consultation, we had to make the difficult decision to restructure and make the headteacher post redundant.

“Candida Hutchinson is currently Headteacher at St. George’s, Semington and Seend CofE School and her role will now extend to St. Mary’s Broughton Gifford, taking over from Mrs. Pauline Orchard who will leave the school at the end of August.

“Given Mrs. Hutchinson’s proven success in her dual role at St. George’s, Semington and Seend, we are confident she will bring the effective leadership and experience required to oversee the future of St. Mary’s without impacting on our pupils’ education success and overall well-being. 

“Candida will also be further supported by assistant principals in all three schools, the Executive Director for Primary Education and the Primary School Improvement Team, to ensure the future success of all three schools.”

To view the petition, visit the website: http://chng.it/yw7YyX9dbw